Farewell, Great Lion

I am sad because someone I've never met passed away. I am not a full-on Apple fanboy, but I know the contribution Steve Jobs made to this world is special, I am sad to see it cut short so soon. 

For someone to redefine as many things as he did with his ideas and actions is incredible. The accolades that I've read online from so many people, both the famous and the masses, are warming and poignant. Add it up, no traditional company has made the global impact that Apple, Inc. has, especially since Steve's "comeback" in 1997. Wow.

I am inspired and driven into brief pauses and pockets of deep thought as I recall my involvement with Apple and Steve Job's products. As a computer science major in the early '80s, the "Apple Lab" in college was a special place to program. It was filled with Apple IIc and IIe computers that each had their own processors, unlike the clunky old IBM 360/370 we also got to dance with on campus. The iPod? An immediate hit with me. Seeing myself and many other folks gravitate to the MacBook series of laptops, especially after the Motorola chipsets were traded for Intel? Very fulfilling. Retail stores where customers could see, try and learn about the newest products? Groundbreaking. Now iPad and the many things we are still discovering it can serve as? Brilliant - and a product concieved out of nowhere! What an array of winners.

To watch in today's age the way in which Steve Jobs led his company was amazing. I am sure Apple will continue to innovate and produce goods of mass appeal even after the Jobs era. His methods have bred many others that churn ideas just like he did. Entrepreneurs and engineers, designers and artists that will use his tools to spring us further into the future. I know there are probably many other products on the drawing board that won't go public for years that were spawned in the mind of Steve Jobs. I can't wait to see how that unfolds.

I am sorry we loose a leader that made decisions that were iconically bold, forward-thinking and many times against the grain. Look at the man who did not call himself a visionary mind, his peers and competitors did. With his own path clear in his mind's eye, he steered his garage startup to be the most valuable tech company on Earth. That's because true visionaries see further down the path than most. Then they act on what they see. 

The final release of Apple's latest operating system is now prepackaged with all new Mac computers. Appropriately named OS X Lion, as in "King of the Jungle," it represents the best effort yet in Apple's OS X lineup. Steve Jobs was the "Lion" in Apple's lineup. He saw the future, engineered simple-to-use devices to his meticulous standards, and reinvented consumer electronics worldwide. His life's work was great for technology buffs, great for America and great for his millions of worldwide customers. Watch now as his greatest contribution spills even more innovation into our lives. He inspired many like myself to chase what they believe in rather than say, "That's good enough." His mark is unmistakeable, his contributions many, his roar heard throughout the land.

Farewell, Great Lion.